I'm under the impression that a matching #'s car simply means that it has the original trans, engine, driveshaft and body.
Would any other features of a car be required to consider it a matching numbers car, maybe like paint or interior color?
Thanks, Tom

I think you are on the right track. Since most of these cars did not have VINs stamped on the engine and trannys (62 and up 327/300hp and 409 cars were VIN stamped, or were suppose to be) the number matching game is not an exact science.

In theory a numbers matching car has "the original" drive train it was born with when it rolled off the assembly line. Drive train to me means the engine, transmission, and rear axel assembly.

Now, as mentioned, most of the X frame cars did not have VINs stamped on the drive train componets. So you have to look at part numbers and casting date codes and compare them to what would be the expected correct part numbers and the car's assembly date stamped on the trim tag. The casting date codes have to precede the assembly date. But by how much can vary by a few days to several weeks, thus not an exact science.

And of course, you will never know if some previous owner found a date correct replacment engine block or other componet.

Interesting, so with all that said, it is difficult to truly prove that a car is fully a matching numbers car.
I was looking at an old Camaro the other day a guy was selling and he kept telling me that it was a matching numbers car, but the interior was shot, the paint was gone and the rear end was only a few inches off the ground. A real mess. I did believe the engine and drivetrain were original though. I passed it up but wanted clarification of what matching numbers "really" means and how you can verify it.
Anyhow, thanks for enlightment guys.
Tom

It is more correct to say the car is original than to say its a matching numbers car.

case in point... I can take a 61 Bel Air, get an Impala VIN from a salvage yard, put on the Impala trunk lid - THEN - go find a 348 with the proper date codes... and the end result would be a "matching numbers" car.

Hmmmmmm - sounds fishy - heh??? IT IS!

So be careful when hearing the term "matching numbers"..... it can mean the car is a CLONE and someone took the time to assemble a car that never was truly built by GM in the first place.

On the Camaro's there is a partial VIN stamped on the block so you can verify it does have the original engine. Unless someone has gone and decked the block a bunch, then re-stamped the numbers on it - then it's hard to tell. The tranny's also have a partial VIN on those cars too.
Don

NCRS has definitions, I think it includes it's OK to restamp a block, as long as you do a good job. Once a car has been "restored" its really difficult to know what's original.

To me, original is original, numbers matching doesn't mean much if its not original. And then you have to ask for my definition of original? Or "numbers matching". It's all a lot of BS, most of the time, depending on who is saying it.

All of the above is the reason I never use the term "matching numbers" for any car which didn't originally come from the factory with its major components stamped with the VIN. The term I prefer, and which most people won't argue with, is "date correct".

Ray

There's a line between good and evil no wider than a razor's edge - D.S. James Hathaway quoting from The Night Keeper

Now you guys did it.. I had to change my signature from #'s matching to "original" numbers...
How very true though...date correct can get confued with original numbers in a hurry, mind you, if I was to blow up my block, you can bet I would pay a huge dollar to get the correctly dated block.

You see many Corvette owners looking for blocks to restamp and the guideline was a dated block up to 6 months before the build date of the car? That leaves a lot of room to cheat?

There are also many people out there offering the restamp service.

Again, it depends on the owner's definition of numbers matching. I call it numbers correct unless it came with the car from the factory. My 63 had an Oct 63 block in a Jan 63 car, it was "correct" and had been decked, but was still blank on the pad when I sold it. The original block was blown up racing in 1972 or so.